It's just less than two weeks now and we have to cast our votes again. By this time we should have made our decisions, I just hope they are right and wise, or else another 6 years of same old same old things for us.I never wanted Noynoy to be our president. Duh, need I say more? I supposed my readers are wise enough not to be carried away by his being Aquino and ABS-CBN's kinda biased broadcastings. Ü

Senators are the ones who make bills, and how many bills did he author & pass into law: None. Sana yung LABAN na lagi nyang sinisigaw, ginawa nya na or kahit sinimulan nya man lang sana.. 12 years kasi sya sa public service, 12 years of nothingness.. Sayang.I used to like Villar, kakahiya aminin yan. His rags to richess story is inspiring. But then after all the lies, specially about his brother who apparently died in FEU hospital and not what he labeled "naranasan nyo na bang mamatayan ng kapatid dahil wala kayong pampagamot? wala kayong magawa?" that was a very foul joke against a dead person, specially kapatid mo pa. Kinikilabutan ako. Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw, hindi ba? Not to mention the many lawsuits filled against him. Gibo is fine with me but why did he personally chose EDU MANZANO as his VP? Now Im starting to think, is he really serious? hihiI think he is good and smart. But I think there's someone better. Who wants to settle for less, right?Upon watching many debates, interviews held by GMA7 and ABS-CBN, it's now clear who is the best man for the position, who deserves my vote.

3. Learn a skill. Poverty is an absence of choice. That’s why you have to continue learning. You have to learn a skill. I never tell people “good luck.” I always tell them “good skill.” Be creative. Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa. God gave you skills. God will not help you if you don’t help yourself.

4. Work, save, invest, and prosper. You have to work. Address your needs but always save. Get into a business. Get life insurance or a personal accident insurance kung `yun lang ang kaya mo. We need a provident fund especially for our OFWs. We have 11 million Filipinos abroad. You put them and our people here in a provident fund, we can prosper ourselves. Combine GSIS and SSS funds and come up with a provident fund, just like what Singapore did. People have to learn to save something.

5. Help. Find extra time to help. Volunteer with the Red Cross. Kapag alam mong ginawa mo, bibiyaan ka. Helping others is a reward in itself.6. Lead by example. The Philippines would improve if it elects a leader who can inspire, able to communicate by word and deed, provides a vision, extracts values, and displays integrity. Demand from your leaders. Ask for their qualifications. Look for their record.

7. Be independent. I had to fight big guys but I couldn’t tell my dad. He encouraged me to learn judo to protect myself. You have to learn to survive. You have to learn to stand your ground. Those guys who tried to bully me, I stood up to them.

8. Learn from your mistakes. I learn from my mistakes. I learn from other people’s mistakes. There’s only one thing I can never learn: to be overly materialistic. I don’t pay the media to cover me. I don’t pay for my press releases. If my being straightforward is a mistake, that’s a mistake I’ll keep on repeating.

9. Be assertive. We’re like makahiyas. We shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t be an adapting culture. We’re resilient but we don’t assert ourselves. We’re a happy people. That’s good psychology. We laugh at ourselves. We’re an accommodating culture. We shouldn’t be. We should live by the national anthem, by our oath.

10. Make fear your friend. During the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, I told myself we’re not going to allow ourselves to die here. I prayed, “If you’re going to take me, take me. Please though, don’t make me look bad as I lead.” You must make fear your friend.

And opcors, Bayani Fernando is my VP not just because he is the running mate of Gordon! Tama ng salita, gusto ko yung gumagawa!

The Change We Can Expect and the Change Already Proven (yan mahalaga)

I pity those people who say "I like Gordon (or any presidentiable) kaso sayang lang boto ko kasi di sya mananalo.." They actually sound stupid. For me mas sayang yung boto ko pag binoto ko yung #1 at #2 dahil lang sa survey o dahil sa lesser evil crap.There are 50 million voters sa Pinas, not even 100,000 or 1 million persons (0.02%) are being surveyed. Just so you know, Bro. Eddie Villanueva leads in exit polls conducted for absentee voting held in Hong Kong last April 11.Yes, voting is a right, but it's also a responsibility to study each candidate first before making a decision. Turo ng simbahan natin yan. Bawal ang tamad. Lalong mas bawal ang tanga! Ü

Off to Camp 2. The trail is much better. I really felt I was in the middle of a forest. Temperature was colder too. Grasses and trees are green, unlike the trail I've seen going to Camp1, everything was brown and dry. I enjoyed trekking at Camp 2 more.

trekking inside the forest

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I requested to rest twice. I felt it's getting hard to breathe. Im OK but I dont know how long this walking would take so I need to conserve the energy I have.

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and more reminders for the trekkers

After an hour I think, I reached Camp 2! Woohoo! It's not that hard after all. I overcome the cold and hot temperature and the pagod, combined all together. More than the endurance, it's the will power to finish the climb is the key.

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Camp 2 - Woohoo!

The place is very foggy. All of us felt the fog passed us. Temperature dropped to 10degrees!

Everybody panicked when it started to rain. We haven't setup our tents yet. I just made sure my camera wouldnt be wet. Thank God the rain didn't last long, it only took 5 mins. Pinakaba lang kaming lahat. Hihi

All of us immediately setup our tents.

it's warmer to pinch the tents near the grasses

At this time I put on my 2 jackets, my gloves, and socks. I stayed inside the tent and slept for 2 hours. After experiencing to sleep in the open without any tents at all, I dont have any difficulties sleeping anywhere now. Ü

I woke up and dinner was being prepared. Everything was improvised. Galing!

dinner in the mountain

While waiting for dinner, all of us noticed the sea of clouds near the other end of the camp site. Amazing! I only see these when Im in the airplane! Also, all of us awaited for the sun to set.

sea of clouds

majestic sunset in the mountains

The temperature dropped to 8 degrees while we were eating. At 6pm it's already that cold. So after dinner I put another jacket which I bought in ukay ukay. Yung pang antarctica jacket na iniisip nating lahat kung sino bibili ngayong summer time. Well me! Hihi

I decided to sleep again right after dinner. I stayed warm under 1 shirt, 2 jackets, and 1 pang antarctica jacket. Im also wearing a bonnet, 2 mufflers, 2 levels of gloves, 4 levels of socks, and 3 levels of pants. Seriously, may ganito kalamig sa Pinas! I didn't use my camera too to conserve the battery. I wrapped it in a cloth, then put it inside a plastic, then I put it inside my bag. I heard everything gonna moist in the middle of the night, ayoko masira si Harvey.

Come night time, I still felt the cold but I didnt mind. I was asleep from 7.30pm-2am I think. Tagos hanggang buto yung lamig but I dont care, mas ramdam ko yung antok.Btw, the word GINAW is insufficient to describe how cold it became. CHILLING is the right word. My lower body, hands, and feet became numb. My friend Jacq and all others werent able to sleep at all because they got fever and headache. Well, I heard almost everyone in Camp 2 complaining about the freezing temperature.

At 3am we started to prepare for the summit climb. 1 of our groupmate decided not to pursue the climb at all. Eto pa, my 2 flashlights batteries got drained! Omg, how am I gonna reach the summit with the steep trail without any light?! Good thing BJ and Rina helped me. Thank you talaga. You are very kind. Pati Gatorade mo shinare mo sakin. Sweet! Hihi

The trek to the summit is the hardest I think. Aside from I dont have a flashlight (dahil jan mga 10x akong nadapa), the temperature is very cold, mas nakakahingal na yung trek, at nakakapressure na umabot sa summit before the sun rises. Sukatan ng endurance and I think will power to reach the summit on time.

It was a very fulfilling moment for all of the climbers specially those who took the killer trail, it took them 3 days of trekking to get on top. Whew! I may not understand their passion for mountain climbing pero saludo ako sa kanila. This is not easy.

And opcors, I wont leave the summit without making a memorable shot. Since it's too risky to do a jumpshot, I thought of something else. I removed the layers and layers of clothing to feel the breeze on top of Luzon's peak. Tagos hanggang buto na lamig! Astig!

Have you noticed I included some more items in my To Do List? Panonaman 1st quarter palang of the year, almost half of it are donealready. Since I wanted to challenge myself more, I included someitems that are never planned at all.

One of these is mountain climbing. Im really not a fan. I admit Imnever interested to do this. Last year I started makingtrips which are way out of my comfort zone - like Anawangin, Nagsasa,Capones, Pinatubo Trek, Sagada, and DIY Calaguas. Surprisingly, thesetrips are the most memorable and awesome adventures I ever had. Thenmaybe I should also include mountain climbing in my list. Probably Iwill also have another awesome experience.

my most viewed travel entries

To make it more exciting, I chose a place where the temperaturebecomes ZERO DEGREES. Oh yeah, freezing level coldness. Interesting,may ganyan kalamig na lugar sa Pinas! The mountain's name is Mt.Pulag.It's in Benguet.

Mt.Pulag is the third highest mountain in the Philippines. The highestpeak in Luzon. Acdg to http://www.pinoymountaineer.com's entry aboutthe Philippine's highest mountains, Mt.Pulag (2922m)is only 34m short of Mt.Apo (2956m)! Had I known these factsearlier, I would choose a not so high mountain for my first everclimb. Ü

This blog always promotes Do It Yourself trips, ayoko ng package.Those are only for people who dont have time to plan and research.Planning and researching are part of the travel, just so you know. Butwhen I found out that it is way cheaper if you travel with a group, then it's time to join a group. Yes, I availed a tour packageprovided by Tripinas. They charge P3500 for an all in package but Ithink it's still expensive. But anyway since wala namang akong campingequipments, hmpf gola na!

Our group met in cubao and after we're introduced to each other we headed to the bus station. We arrived in Baguio at 5am. Kung dati "ngatog" ang mararamdaman mo, ngayon keri lang walang jacket. Mainit na talaga kahit saan. The rented jeep awaits us. This will take us to Benguet.

the ride to Pulag

Climbers must register and be briefed first at DENR station. We attended a short orientation here.

ready ka na ba?

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andami palang mountaineering groups

After that, roadtrip ulit. Zigzag roads are fine, what I dont like is the rocky and dusty road. Jeepney windows are closed too kaya ang init. It's diffucult to breath and at the same time I felt like Im eating all the dust (artsy mode).

Finally after many stopover, we reached the ranger station. This is the drop off point for the Ambangeg trail. This is the easiest trail. Ambisyosa naman ako if I take Akiki "the Killer" trail.

ranger station with many climbers

After eating lunch provided by Tripinas, I changed my outfit for trekking and put some SPF70 sunblock provided by Ms.Joy. Sosyalin mga kasama ko. They are classmates in Spanish class. Sir Cheeks had a watch with a built in temperature and altitude reader. Sowsyal (social) climbing it is! Ü

Btw, porters are available for only P250 per way. Yes I availed it kahit magaan yung bag ko. I dont want my back to suffer after this weekend.

The SacrificeHope all of you had some quiet time to reflect and pray. What sacrifice did you make? My friend Dyanie gave up meat for 45 days! Amazing isn't it? Remember the Gospel where Jesus didn't eat for 40 days and 40 nights and after that a Demon offered him wealth, power, authority, etc? Our parish priest said in his Homily that people who can control / can resist temptation on their meals can absolutely control everything too. Kaya saludo ako sayo Dyanie! Ikaw na ang bida! Ü

The Easter FeastWhile everyone was enjoying their vacations outside the city, Dyanie and I were still working. Losers! And as reward (and to spend our premium holiday pays), we decided to have a grand buffet last Easter Sunday, also a perfect way to end her 45 meat-less days.

All this time I've always believe na lobo lang ang pumuputok. But I guess I was wrong. After having those desserts, I felt my stomach was about to burst. Seriously! I have never felt so full in my life. Parang lahat ng kinain ko nasa esophagus ko na. It's really time to STOP eating.

Obviously, Dyanie and I enjoyed this feast. Dusit Thani's Crossover has the widest and yummiest dish offerings among all the Hotel Buffets Ive tried. Super sulit pa for the price of P1450.

Leaving the place VERY satisfied

○ See Dyanie's entry too here ---> LINK○ 15 hours passed and I finally felt hungry again.○ Earlier I ran for 2kms and biked for another 3kms. Needed to burn those calories and preparation too for next trip. Ü